Archbishop Chrysostomos II, leader of the orthodox Church of Cyprus,
behaves like a head of a wealthy business empire and wields considerable
influence in public policy. To meet him is to encounter an indispensable
figure of this country marked by financial and social crises.
Fabrice Nodé-Langlois

As the small Mediterranean island republic of Cyprus finds itself in the
midst of an historic economic crisis, the head of its Orthodox Church
appears prominently in political debate. Archbishop Chrysostomos II is
ever-present and never holds back.

At the end of March, in exchange for €10bn in aid, the Europe rescue
plan imposed a haircut on accounts of over €100,000 in the country’s two
main banks. With barely a moment gone to waste after new Cypriot
president Nicos Anastasiades accepted this plan, the prelate demanded
the resignation of the minister of finance and the governor of the
central bank, despite having supported Anastasiades during his
presidential campaign.

Chrysostomos II, “Archbishop of new Justiniana and all Cyprus”, offers
his opinion on all subjects. The prelate is above all a businessman at
the head of a very wealthy church. He is also said to enjoy privileged
relations with Moscow. This key figure on the island, and without a
doubt its most influential personality, inevitably stirs wild emotions.

“You’re going to see the Archbishop?” asks an amused Panicos, taxi
driver, on the way to the Archdiocese in the heart of old Nicosia,
surrounded by Venetian ramparts. “Keep an eye on your rings! The Church
is extremely wealthy. It’s the mafia!”
The beatific businessman

The prelate receives visitors in the Episcopal Palace, a
Byzantine-revival structure built on elegant arcades in the 1950s. In
the courtyard stands a statue of Archbishop Makarios III, famed
predecessor of Chrysostomos II and first president of independent Cyprus
in 1959.

This morning, Chrysostomos II welcomes his visitor wearing a simple blue
cassock. The red-lined sleeve falls back to reveals a large gold watch.
After the ritual handkissing, which imposes a certain distance, the
septuagenarian with a thick grey beard exudes warmth. His eyes sparkle
from behind his wire-rimmed glasses, and his smile is generous.

On the subject of the financial rescue plan and its draconian quid pro
quos, which President Anastasiades has been trying to soften, his
Beatitude hands down harsh judgment. “The situation has been created by
Germany, the IMF and the ECB. They have punished Cyprus.” It’s a sense
of injustice widely shared by investors, many of whom have seen their
savings go up in smoke from one day to the next.

As expected, the Church has been opening soup kitchens and helping those
in greatest need. With its wealth, the Church helps the nation with a
keen business sense. Cluttered with folders and adorned with a meeting
table, Chrysostomos II’s vast office evokes that of a CEO.

Beyond its real estate wealth, the Church of Cyprus is the leading
shareholder in the brewery that produces the national beer, Keo. It is
also a major shareholder – with a 29 per cent stake – in the Hellenic
Bank, the country’s third-largest financial institution. “We will not
abandon it,” assures the Archbishop, adding with a little laugh that
shakes his beard: “We told the government not to touch it.” The Church
also owned five per cent of the shares of the Bank of Cyprus, which is
now being fully restructured. Those shares, the top financier admits,
were lost.
Privileged links with Moscow

In Paphos, for €1.5m a year, the Church has leased 50,000 square metres
to Russian investors who plan to build a hotel. The Church is said to
enjoy privileged ties with Russia, and Chrysostomos II makes no secret
of it. When the previous government wanted to ask Moscow for an
extension of the deadlines for the loan of €2.5bn in 2011, he says, he
arranged “a meeting in Europe with the Russian Patriarch, who went to
intercede with Putin. President Christofias was to call Putin
immediately. That call took him thirteen days to make.” It was an
affront to the Kremlin, reasons the prelate.

Like his Orthodox cousins in Russia, Chrysostomos II “is very
nationalist”, says a foreign observer. The housing boom and the growth
of the past years have drawn some 100,000 Romanian, Bulgarian, Filipinos
and Pakistani immigrants to the Greek side of the island, where the
total population is 800,000. “These are all God’s children, and I don’t
want them to leave,” the Archbishop begins. “If they were not there,
though, there would be no unemployment.”
A Church that holds out against everything

How to explain his continual intervention in the political debate?
Chrysostomos II’s answer is quick and firm: “The Church states its
opinion because it has been here for two thousand years.” The tradition
goes back to Saint Barnabas, contemporary of Christ, who crossed the
stretch of the Mediterranean separating the Holy Land from the island of
Aphrodite.

“One must not try to understand the Church of Cyprus using Western
references,” warns Andreas Theophanous, Professor of Economics at the
University of Nicosia and supporter of a controlled exit from the euro.
“Cyprus was dominated by the Ottomans in the 15th century. The Pope did
not come to our rescue, because he asked us to submit to his authority
in return. The Turks turned to the Archbishop, who had become the
island’s de facto political leader. People ceded their property to the
Church so that it would be protected, and that is how the Church became
rich,” the professor says. Chrysostomos II has the last word: “If this
island has remained Greek and Christian, it is 100 per cent thanks to
the Church.”

The coming years look to be very difficult for Cypriots. According to
forecasts from Brussels, the GDP will fall up to 9 percent in 2013 and
unemployment will climb above 17 per cent in 2014. There is a looming
threat of Greek-style austerity. “Everything fell apart in just a few
weeks,” repeat many of the inhabitants of Nicosia, some of whom saw half
their life savings vanish overnight. Everything collapsed except the
Church, which still stands firm on its Cypriot rock, as it has for 2,000
years.

Translated from the French by Anton Baer

Your message has been successfully submitted and would be delivered to recipients shortly.